5.28pm: Here's a summary of the main developments today, which was dominated by the twin explosions in Damascus:

Syria

•Two explosions in Damascus have killed more than 40 people, with more than 150 injured, the Syrian government says. It blamed the attacks on two al-Qaida suicide bombers driving booby-trapped operatives but Syrian TV reported that one perpetrator had been arrested. The state news agency, Sana, said two "terrorist attacks" targeted the state security directorate and the general intelligence building in the capital. The foreign ministry said it had been warned about al-Qaida infiltration into the country from Lebanon. Sana quoted experts blaming the US, Israel and Europe, as well as al-Qaida.

•The explosions came as an advance party of Arab League observers were in Damascus and they were taken to see the scene of the blast. Outside the two buildings, mutilated and torn bodies lay amid rubble, twisted debris and burned cars in Damascus' upscale Kfar Sousa district.

•The renegade Free Syrian Army has denied responsibility for the attacks and many activists, including a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, expressed scepticism about the official account of the blasts. They pointed to a variety of reasons for their doubts, including the speedy conclusion that the bombs were caused by al-Qaida, the coincidence of the presence of the Arab League Observers and the fact that they happened in a high-security area. There were also unconfirmed reports of roads being closed before the blasts and a lack of reaction by security forces. The former Lebanese prime minster Saad Hariri, whose father was assassinated in 2005, claimed the bombings were "engineered" by the Assad's regime

•Analysts and activists suggested that the reported blasts fit into the narrative the Syrian government has adopted about armed terrorist groups being behind the uprising. Earlier this week Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moualem predicted that Arab League observers would vindicate government claims that Syria is battling terrorists, predicting they would observe their presence. Additionally, on Thursday, Sana reported Lebanese government concerns that members of al-Qaida were infiltrating Syria via East Lebanon.

•The US State department condemned the attacks, describing them as acts of terrorism. But it said they should not interfere with the work of the Arab League monitoring mission. But the French government expressed scepticism with French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero quoted as saying: "We still don't have any details on the origin of these attacks." Valero saidFrance was more generally concerned that Syria had for several days been carrying out actions "to mask the reality of the repression", notably by transferring political prisoners to secret jails.

•The reports of the explosions failed to deter Assad's opponents from taking to the streets in protests. The Syrian Revolution General Commission said 25 people have been killed today, including three children. The SRGC says five people have been killed in Hama, four in Idlib, three in Dera'a, two in Damascus suburbs and one each in Deir Ezzor and Latakia.

Egypt

•Thousands of people gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against Egypt's military rulers and a security assault on a cabinet sit-in last week. An unidentified cleric giving the Friday sermon in the square blamed the military for divisions and called on the generals to give up power as the only solution to ending "dictatorship". There were also protests in Alexandria, Suez, Assuit, Tanta, Port Said, Ismailia and Luxor according to Ahram Online. There were pro-military demonstrations in the capital and Alexandria. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, which did not join today's anti-military rallies but said it supported their right to protest, claims to have won 38 out of 47 seats announced so far in the second phase of run-offs.

Yemen

• A rally aiming to join up with a "life march" from Taiz to Sana'a protesting at the immunity deal for Ali Abdullah Saleh was attacked by supporters of the outgoing president south of the capital. An organiser said dozens of demonstrators were wounded after being struck by stones, and one was hit by a bullet,"The "life march" was supposed to arrive in Sana'a today but is now expected to arrive tomorrow.

Who's to blame? There is no evidence of anyone's guilt, and there won't be any credible evidence while the criminal Asad regime remains in power and continues to lie and to block journalists' access. This means that pro-regime people will follow the regime line and blame al-Qa'ida, and anti-regime people will blame the regime. I make no bones about it: I'm firmly in the anti-regime camp. Those who followed my writing before this year will know that I was once willing to give the regime the benefit of the doubt. Not any longer.

Witnesses claim that the streets around the bomb blast were closed off by security before the explosions. The oppositionist Muhammad al-Abdullah writes on his facebook page that "Reliable sources leaked the news that the victims of the bombings in the security services building were innocent people detained during demonstrations and were transferred from prisons and detention centres to the military and security buildings to use as victims in the series of explosions planned in the coming days after signing the death protocol (the Arab League protocol) and the presence of Arab observers to let the world think that the Syrian revolution is a terrorist revolution." The regime claims it received information from Lebanon two days ago that 200 al-Qa'ida operatives were crossing the border. Lebanon's ex-prime minister Saad al-Hariri (admittedly an anti-Syrian politician) says "this is fabricated by the Syrian ministry and some of its tools in Lebanon."

So choose the narrative that fits you best. This is the confusion into which the criminal and traitorous regime has led us.

4.34pm: While the news coming out of Syria has been dominated by the twin explosions in Damascus, security forces have continued killing protesters, according to activists. The Syrian Revolution General Commission says 25 people have been killed, including three children, with Homs bearing the brunt of the crackdown, with nine deaths. The SRGC says five people have been killed in Hama, four in Idlib, three in Dera'a, two in Damascus suburbs and one each in Deir Ezzor and Latakia.

AP points out numbers fell well short of the one million, organisers had called for, although in reality, they have called for a "one million people march" a number of times without ever reaching that size, except perhaps during the protests against Mubarak (but even that is debatable).

But, as on some previous occasions, there have also been counter-demonstration in support of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Pro-military protests have been taking place in Cairo and Alexandria.Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, which did not join today's anti-military rallies but said it supported their right to protest, claims to have won 38 out of 47 seats announced so far in the second phase of run-offs.

Valero said, however, that France was more generally concerned that Syria had for several days been carrying out actions "to mask the reality of the repression, notably by transferring political prisoners to secret jails.

There is no justification for terrorism of any kind and we condemn these acts wherever they occur ...

It is crucial that today's attack not impede the critical work of the Arab League monitoring mission to document and deter human rights abuses with the goal of protecting civilians. We hope that this mission will proceed unfettered in an atmosphere of non-violence.

3.56pm: Former US diplomat Daniel Serwer is concerned about the implications of today's events in Damascus however they happened. In blogpost for Peace Fare, he writes:

I share the natural inclination to disbelieve the regime, which has established for itself a clear and consistent record of lying about everything. But it may not matter: these bombings represent an enormous escalation of the level and kind of violence in Syria. It will encourage both regime and protesters to ratchet up their rhetoric and intensify the physical conflict. While I might hope that will cause massive defections from the Syrian army, I think it far more likely it will reduce the numbers of people willing to go to the streets and improve the regime's chances of repressing the demonstrations. The regime will target Sunni Islamists. Some of the Sunnis will respond by targeting Allawites, Christians and other regime loyalists. From here it is easy to go in the direction of sectarian civil war, no matter who was responsible for this morning's bombings.

The "Life March" was due to arrive in the capital today after setting off from Taiz, nearly 267km away but is now likely to enter Sana'a tomorrow, AFP says, quoting a rally organiser.

Assailants, some of whom were armed, attacked a group of 2,000 demonstrators in Hizyaz, a suburb south of Sanaa, before they could join a rally headed to the capital, said Mondher al-Asbahi.

"Dozens of demonstrators were wounded, struck by stones, and one was hit by a bullet," said Asbahi, a member of a Taez youth group organising the rally ...

Tribesmen are escorting them to ensure the security of the march, which was the target of an armed attack in the province of Dhamar, a tribal chief told AFP.

He added that Saleh's partisans began to gather 30km south of Sanaa in bid to "block the march".

3.03pm: Another witness report claims that roads were closed before today's blast in Damascus, according to this translation by Alexander Page (via Enduring America).

Half an hour before the bombing took place there was a significantly high security presence, one side of the road was cut off from the Kafarsooseh end near Carlton hotel 10 minutes before the explosion itself. As soon as the road was opened an explosion was heard and then another one followed about 5 minutes later, heavy gunfire then started by the security forces for 30 minutes.

There were no clashes but gunfire coming from the state security building. Yesterday there was a warning by the government that people should not take to the streets on Friday as there was suspicion of a terrorist attack and pointing out it could be a bombing in central Damascus.

2.48pm: The former Lebanese prime minster Saad Hariri, whose father was assassinated in 2005, claimed today's bombings were "engineered" by the Assad's regime, Now Lebanon reports.

"This is really confusing…and I believe that the blast was engineered by the Syrian regime, just like the Syrian National Council declared," the Future Movement leader said via the social networking website Twitter.

Commenting on the Syrian Foreign Ministry's statement that Beirut "warned Damascus that members of Al-Qaida [infiltrated Syria] two days ago from Lebanon," Hariri said that "this is fabricated by the Syrian ministry and some of its tools in Lebanon."

The incidents fit straight into the official narrative: anti-regime activists weren't peaceful protesters wanting reform after all, and talk of peaceful change was always a veneer for the stalking horse of al-Qaida. Regime officials have made this their mantra since violence started to escalate in late summer.

... after these blasts, the regime can boast that they were right all along. The enduring question is who will believe them.

2.09pm: The Syrian state media appeared to be laying the ground work for its claims of a terrorist attack yesterday.

Dr Amin Hoteit ...strategic expert and researcher from Lebanon, said the twin terrorist attacks indicate that the agents of the west and Israel have started carrying out the terrorist acts plan after the failure of the Zio-American-European plot to undermine Syria.

He noted that the US administration has now turned to implementing in Syria the same scheme it used in Afghanistan and Iraq, through directing al-Qaida and its Takfiri agents into killing civilians.

1.47pm: Streets around the bomb sites were closed by the security forces hours before the explosions took place, witnesses told activists.

Horan, an anti-government activist in Dera'a, said:

Three or four people have told me that the streets were closed by the security services before the bombing.

Speaking via Skype he said:

In normal circumstances it is very difficult to get to these streets, because it the place of the intelligence headquarters, so how did a bomber get there? This has been done by the regime, we are sure about that.

He suspected that the bodies shown on state TV were planted by the government.

Several demonstrators are killed every day by the regime. I'm sure that some of the bodies [they showed] were those of demonstrators. They have planted bodies to before, they took dead people from Dera'a [in the south] and showed the media bodies in Jisr al-Shughour (near the Turkish border).

He said he hoped the Arab League would question the regime's version of events, but he feared that they would not.

Horan added: "No one believes the government. No one believes the TV pictures they are seeing."

1.45pm: Here's a summary of the main developments today, dominated by the blasts in Damascus:

Syria

•Two explosions in Damascus have killed more than 40 people, with more than 150 injured, the Syrian government says. It blamed the attacks on two al-Qaida suicide bombers driving booby-trapped operatives but Syrian TV reported that one perpetrator had been arrested. The state news agency said two "terrorist attacks" targeted the state security directorate and the general intelligence building in the capital. The foreign ministry said it had been warned about al-Qaida infiltration into the country from Lebanon.

•The explosions came as an advance party of Arab League observers were in Damascus and they were taken to see the scene of the blast. Outside the two buildings, mutilated and torn bodies lay amid rubble, twisted debris and burned cars in Damascus' upscale Kfar Sousa district.

•The renegade Free Syrian Army has denied responsibility for the attacks and many activists expressed scepticism about the official account of the blasts. They pointed to a variety of reasons for their doubts, including the speedy conclusion that the bombs were caused by al-Qaida, the coincidence of the presence of the Arab League Observers and the fact that they happened in a high-security area.

•The reports of the explosions failed to deter Assad's opponents from taking to the streets in protests. The Local Co-ordination Committees reported security forces opening fire on protesters in several areas. They said a 15-year-old boy shot dead in Idlib was among the dead. Al-Jazeera reported that 16 people have been killed by the security forces.

Egypt

•Thousands of people have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against Egypt's military rulers and a security assault on a cabinet sit-in last week. The protest has two official slogans - "The Friday of Reclaiming Honour" and "The Friday of Egypt's Women". Amnesty International said the authorities must not use force against peaceful protesters by targeting women with "gender-based violence". Men formed a protective ring around female protesters in Tahrir Square. An unidentified cleric giving the Friday sermon in the square blamed the military for divisions and called on the generals to give up power as the only solution to ending "dictatorship".

Bahrain

•Security forces fired teargas into the headquarters of the opposition al-Wefaq party and at protesters trying to take part in a banned march to Tulib, activists said. They posted pictures and videos of the attacks. The ministry of the interior said "legal procedures" were taken after vandals hurled stones at police forces near the al-Wefaq building.

Yemen

• A life march from Taiz to Sana'a to protest at the immunity deal for outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh is due to arrive in Sana'a today. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council said it expects presidential elections in Yemen to go ahead as scheduled on 21 February and rival parties to honor the deal that Saleh to hand power to his vice president.

1.22pm: Omar Idilbi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, has added his voice to those questioning the state's account of the Damascus bombings, calling the explosions "very mysterious because they happened in heavily guarded areas that are difficult to be penetrated by a car".

He said:

The presence of the Arab League advance team of observers pushed the regime to give this story in order to scare the committee from moving around Syria. The second message is an attempt to make the Arab League and international public opinion believe that Syria is being subjected to acts of terrorism by members of al-Qaida.

A huge gathering of citizens on Friday flocked to Saba' Bahrat Square in the capital Damascus in condemnation of the two terrorist attacks which targeted the state security directorate and another security branch in the city and the sabotage and criminal operations committed by the armed terrorist groups.

Crowds of people of the southern province of Sweida streamed into al-Shu'leh Square expressing denunciation of the terrorist attacks in Damascus and their rejection of attempts at foreign interference in the internal affairs of the Syrian people.

1.05pm: Yemeni activist Noon Arabia has produced a Storify account of a "Life March" from Taiz to Sana'a to protest at the immunity deal for President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The marchers are due to arrive in the capital Sana'a today.

12.57pm: In Bahrain, activists say security forces attacked the offices of the opposition group al-Wefaq, which was planning to go ahead with a demonstration in Tubil today, despite it being banned by the ministry of the interior because it could "hinder traffic".

12.17pm: Lebanon warned Damascus two days ago that al-Qaida had infiltrated into Syria from its territory, Syria's foreign ministry spokesman said.

Jihad Makdesi told Reuters:

The Lebanese authorities warned us two days ago that [an] al-Qaida group infiltrated to Syria from [north Lebanon's town of] Ersal. And today's suicide bombers caused the death of around 40 and more than 150 injuries, all are civilians and military personnel. Freedom seekers should know that this is not the way to achieve democracy.

Omar al-Khani, of the Syrian Revolution General Commission opposition group, said that he lived three miles from the site of the explosions. Although the blasts rattled the windows of his house and woke him up with the noise, he said, he did not see any smoke rising from the area.

Khani said residents of Kfar Sousa reported that intelligence agents stationed near the building did not move when the explosions detonated. Instead, they continued to drink tea. Snipers and guards at the building also did nothing, he said.

Salman Shaikh, of the Brookings Institute in Doha, said that it was difficult to believe that al-Qaida or an opposition group would have staged such an attack in Damascus.

"Syria doesn't really have a record of this," he said. "The security forces have not lost control of the situation to such an extent that this would seem likely."

End Indent

12.04pm: Thousands of people have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against Egypt's military rulers and a security assault on a cabinet sit-in last week.

A coalition of activists and human rights groups began carrying out a campaign, dubbed "Liars," to counter the military's characterisations. Concerned that many Egyptians get their news primarily from state-financed media organisations that have blamed the protesters while exonerating the military of any violence, the groups have begun setting up screens in the streets of Cairo and other cities to show images of military police beating and shooting protesters and throwing rocks and gasoline bombs.

In the accompanying text, Russia Today, which posted the video says medical sources said at least 10 dead civilians and military personnel were taken to a nearby hospital. (Lebanese TV says 30 people were killed).

Rather than New York, London or Paris, al Qaeda has decided to pick - of all the metropolitan centres of human civilization - to carry out attacks in Assad's Damascus, on the first Friday after Arab League observers come to the country. This is according to the Syrian regime, which made this claim forty minutes after Damascus residents heard the explosions. I think that's nonsense, and there are only two possibilities. Either it is a bogus attack carried out by Assad's incompetent secret police, or it is a genuine attack carried out by the opposition's incompetent armed wing. I say the opposition's incompetence, because I can find nothing sillier than blowing up bombs in Damascus just when the Arab League observers have arrived to figure out just what the hell is happening in Syria. If they have carried out such an act, then they will have given the regime further fuel for their claims that they are fighting a terrorist insurgency, rather than repressing the Syrian people. Expect more claims and counter-claims, accusations and lies, as this story progresses

9.20am: Welcome to Middle East Live.

Two loud explosions have rocked the Syrian capital Damascus after Arab League observers arrived to monitor the government's crackdown. State TV claimed al-Qaida was behind what it claimed were suicide attacks on security bases.

The attacks come as activists plan to rally to the slogan 'protocol of death - a licence to kill' in protests at the Arab League observer mission that they claim is being used as cover by the Assad regime to continue to its brutal crackdown.

Two terrorist attacks on Friday targeted State Security Directorate and another Security Branch in Damascus, preliminary investigations Indicate that the criminal attack carries the blueprints of al Qaeda.

The two attacks, according to the investigations, were carried by two suicide bombers with two booby-trapped cars.

I am concerned that they will negotiate name by name, and I know for sure that they are very tough on liberty of mobilization and on the the security issue. The Arab League should make it very clear that they can't drag this into weeks and weeks of negotiations. The Syrian people do not have the luxury of time.